III-nitride tunnel junctions for efficient solid state lighting

We discuss the design and demonstration ultra-low resistance III-nitride tunnel junctions, and how tunnel junctions could solve the long-standing problem of efficiency droop in solid state lighting. We have used nanoscale band engineering based on polarization and mid-gap states to reduce tunneling resistance by four orders of magnitude. We will discuss experimental demonstration of highly efficient tunnel junctions (resistivity ~ 0.1 mOhm-cm2) in PN junctions, p-contact free LEDs, and multiple junction structures. Finally we will show how tunneling based carrier regeneration in multiple active region cascade LEDs could help to enable low current, high voltage operation to overcome the efficiency droop problem.

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